Hanksville - Feb 8, 2002 - The Mars Desert Research Station went operational February 7, 2002 with the first operational crew being led by Mars Society President Robert Zubrin from Feb 7 to Feb 14, after which the hab will be commanded by Mars Society Mission Support Director Tony Muscatello from Feb 14 to Feb 21.
San Diego - Feb 6, 2002 - In 1979, NASA published Atlas Of Mars, edited by R.M. Batson, P.M. Bridges, and J.L. Inge, of the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona. This was a compendium of airbrushed shaded relief maps, controlled photomosaics, and in a few cases albedo (shading) maps, mostly assembled from Mariner 9 survey images, with some gaps filled by Viking orbiter images.
Pasadena (JPL) Feb 6, 2002 - NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft deployed its high-gain communications antenna last night, marking a major technical milestone prior to the beginning of the science mapping mission.
Fayetteville - Jan 29, 2002 - An experiment designed by the Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, now in place on the polar plateau of Antarctica, may help interpret the recent history of Mars.
Pasadena (JPL) Jan 21, 2002 - No banks, stock exchanges or other financial institutions are known to exist on Mars. So how does a business and economics graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara end up in a key role on a mission to the red planet?
Pasadena - January 17, 2002 - NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft completed two maneuvers this week, fine-tuning its orbit in preparation for the science mapping mission that will begin in late February.
Pasadena (JPL) Jan 15, 2002 - NASA researchers have successfully demonstrated the first use of multiple rovers that work tightly in sync to perform tasks such as coordinated grasping, lifting and moving of an extended payload, while navigating through obstacles on natural terrain.
Tucson - Jan 14, 2002 - Canadian and New Zealand scientists have found living microbes buried deeper than perhaps ever before in Antarctica's ice-free Dry Valleys. They and collaborating planetary scientists at the University of Arizona say new research opens up the possibility of life on Mars and the possible positions within a soil where it might be found.
Rolla - Jan 14, 2002 - Insect-like robots may one day swarm over the surface of Mars, helping scientists better study the planet, says a University of Missouri-Rolla researcher developing this new breed of robots.
Pasadena - Jan 11, 2002 - Flight controllers for NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft sent commands overnight to raise the spacecraft up out of the atmosphere and conclude the aerobraking phase of the mission.
Melbourne - Jan 11, 2002 - University of Melbourne scientists are using the humble Australian yabby as their inspiration to help build miniature robots for NASA's exploration of Mars.
Pasadena (JPL) Dec 17, 2001 - If Santa Claus were a martian, he'd be in for one bumpy ride. That's the assessment of navigators and engineers controlling the flight of NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft as it currently flies four times daily above the north polar region of Mars.
Greenbelt - Dec 6, 2001 - A global view of how Mars changes with the seasons has been provided by extremely precise observations from two investigations on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft.
Sydney - Dec 4, 2001 - Space activities may be under a cloud of controversy, but one fact remains. Mars is the hottest ticket for planetary exploration. The successful arrival of NASA¿s Mars Odyssey has set the stage for another round of surprises that will further ignite interest in this world.
Atlanta - Dec 3, 2001 - One of the oldest forms of flight -- the flapping wings of insects -- may support a revolutionary new class of robotic flying machine uniquely suited for exploring a brave new world: the planet Mars.
Boulder - Dec 3, 2001 - New research from the University of Colorado at Boulder reveals that areas of the surface of Mars may be protected from the full force of solar radiation by areas of intensely magnetized crust.
